THE KEY TO CRACKING PSYCHOMETRIC ASSESSMENTS

Ceri Neilson [SHL Head of Strategic Solutions and Accounts]

Psychometric assessments form a part of many organisations’ graduate recruitment

process. The objective for organisations using psychometric assessments is twofold. Their first objective is to deal with market conditions. They typically have large volumes of applicants from which they have to select the top few in an objective, fair and defensible way, whilst managing this process effectively in order to protect their employer brand and at the same time maintain tight control over budgets. Their second objective is to find out more information about the applicants in terms of whether they show potential for the organisation’s particular graduate positions.

Each and every one of you has potential to be successful in the world of work. However, every job that exists requires a different kind of potential. Academic results and

CV’s can only tell organisations so much about you; they also need to know whether you will demonstrate the competencies or ‘behaviours’ required for a particular graduate role. Psychometric assessments are the means organisations use to find out your potential in relation to the requirements of the graduate roles they can offer. Organisations want to typically find out more about your cognitive ability, personality and judgement within the working world. It is important that organisations make the right selection choices both for themselves and for you: it is in everyone’s best interests to be in roles they enjoy and have the potential to perform well in. Going through a comprehensive selection process also gives you the opportunity to make sure the organisation is right for you.

WHAT SORT OF PSYCHOMETRIC ASSESSMENTS CAN YOU EXPECT TO ENCOUNTER?

Many organisations use a number of assessments at different stages of their

recruitment process. Typically early on in your application process you will be asked to complete some form of short competency-based screening assessment. This may take the form of a questionnaire type format with questions around your preferences, or it may take the form of a simulated situational judgement type questionnaire. Knowing that you as graduates are immersed in the world of technology, organisations are moving to administer these assessments in an online multimedia format. Situational Judgement Tests are used to assess your ability to make good judgements on the appropriate response in workplace situations. During this test you would be presented with a situation, and asked to select the response that you think would be the most effective in dealing with the situation. Through listening to and watching the avatars and then considering four possible answers you will have to decide which is the most appropriate and least appropriate way of dealing with the issue/challenge.

In the next phase of the recruitment process organisations will then often conduct more comprehensive assessments on a shortlisted applicant list. These assessments normally measure cognitive ability and personality. A personality questionnaire you are likely to encounter is the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32r) which measures your own preferences for different aspects of work. There are no right or wrong answers; these assessments ask you to outline which of a range of statements are more or less like you. You would be presented with three statements and your role is to answer which statement is most like you and which statement is least like you.

The cognitive ability tests are more like tests where there is a right and wrong answer. You may be asked to complete a verbal and/or numerical and/or inductive reasoning test. These tests are typically timed. Verbal tests are designed to measure your ability to understand written information and to evaluate arguments about this information.Numerical tests are designed to assess your understanding of tables of statistical and numerical data as well as your ability to make logical deductions from that information.

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SOME GENERAL TIPS

Go to www.shldirect.com to get more tips.

Inductive reasoning tests measure the ability to work flexibly with unfamiliar information and find solutions. People who perform well on these tests tend to have a greater capacity for conceptual and analytical thought.

You cannot study for these assessments, but practising some of them is always encouraged.

For example you can visit SHL’s candidate practice site at www.shldirect.com to get a feel for the tests. Visit this same site to download the iPQ Career Planner app. This app can help you identify and secure the job that’s right for you in a competitive market. �

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